M Qube

Motricity buys GoldPocket Wireless

Sun, 16 Jul 2006 20:01:39 -0400

Merger mania continues in the mobile content space, after a brief hiatus: Motricity has acquired GoldPocket Wireless for an undisclosed sum. GoldPocket Wireless specializes in interactive TV campaigns that make use of SMS and MMS. The merger strengthens Motricity's portfolio of media clients, messaging capabilities and their off-deck plans, which the company launched through partnerships with BET and Ask.com during the past six months. The combined company claims to power the largest mobile operator in the U.S., six of the top 10 carriers in North America and 20 of the top television networks. It also offers everything from storefronts, portals, content aggregation and community applications to messaging aggregation, interactive campaigns and a variety of other mobile marketing solutions.

During a quick interview with FierceMobileContent following the deal, Motricity's CEO Ryan Wuerch added that GoldPocket Wireless' "current media partners, have, no question, the strongest growth curve in the industry" when it comes to mobile content. The push into off-deck is the integral driver of the deal. "What off-deck enables us to do is better understand what a consumer is buying on Friday night from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.," and we can use that information "to better serve the consumer," Wuerch said. Wuerch also noted that since GoldPocket Wireless was partially owned by Tandberg Television (49 percent), "they have a better understanding of interactive TV than competitors like m-Qube, mBlox and others." GoldPocket investors also included Time Warner, Allen & Company and RRE Ventures.

For more on Motricity's acquisition of GoldPocket Wireless:
- see this press release

Chutes & Ladders: Fox names Mobizzo head

Tue, 11 Jul 2006 20:01:37 -0400

Fox Mobile has named former m-Qube VP of media Natalie Farsi as the SVP of Content and M-Commerce for its recently launched off-portal site Mobizzo. The position is a new one and testament to Fox's bullish push into the mobile space. Farsi is tasked with overseeing the portal, expanding its content offerings, making deals and partnerships, while overseeing content production, distribution and development. The hire also follows closely on the heels of the promotion of Mitch Feinman to SVP of Fox Mobile.

For more on Farsi's new position at Fox Mobile:
- see this press release

Trend: More consolidation for mobile transactions

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 20:01:38 -0400

MBlox, Mobile 365, Wireless Services and Valista are all acquisition targets, according to a report in Telephony that follows the recent spat of consolidation in the mobile transaction sector. The most noticeable deals in the past year include VeriSign's acquisition of m-Qube for $250 million and Amdocs' $275 million Qpass buy out. Potential buyers include the obvious billing vendors like CSG and Oracle as well as content platform providers like Motricity. However, all of the major wireless infrastructure vendors have been focusing on their mobile content management services and platforms in the past few years, so the potential list is long.

For more on the consolidation of mobile transaction:
- see this article from Telephony

VeriSign posts $78M in MoCo revenue

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 11:44:08 -0400

VeriSign's mobile content group posted $78 million in revenues for its first quarter, and while it's no shocker since the company forecasted $70 million to $75 million for the quarter, the figure is still remarkably lower than its $114 million in revenue last quarter. Part of the decrease comes from the SMS and MMS unit's move to the company's communications and commerce group, which would have added an additional $15 million in revenue for the quarter. Still, the content group said the spiral will continue next quarter, which should bring in about $65 million in revenue. After that, the company expects its acquisition of m-Qube to bolster revenue, and by the third quarter the unit should be back in shape. The conference call also made it clear that VeriSign paid about four to five times the expected 2006 net revenue of m-Qube at acquisition, which some insiders say is rather high. Deals with Verizon and at least one BREW-based MVNO should also help the company moving forward.

For more on VeriSign's Q1:
- see this conference call transcript from SeekingAlpha.com

mPortal, Roundbox power TV Guide Mobile

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 14:15:21 -0400

mPortal is making some big announcements this week at CTIA, and its first is with help from Roundbox, Alacre and m-Qube for the launch of TV Guide Mobile. TV Guide Mobile is a television interactive program guide designed for mobile devices. Consumers now have the ability to access TV Guide's local program listings, schedule their TV viewing, get viewing recommendations, editorial content and more from their handsets. TV Guide Mobile Entertainment has launched a mobile, on-demand version of TV Guide Channel, offering short-form, original, made-for-mobile content highlighting the best shows and movies on TV. Roundbox likely provided the broadcast technology, while Alacre helps manage the content.

For more on TV Guide Mobile:
- see this press release

DEALS: VeriSign buying m-Qube for $250M

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 19:01:38 -0500

DEALS
WHO	WITH	WHAT	SCOOP
VeriSign	m-Qube	VeriSign to acquire m-Qube for $250M	All rumors pointed to Motricity, but VeriSign ended up with the winning bid. Analysts previously railed on VeriSign's mobile unit, with one even calling it a "disaster."
Fandango, Crisp Wireless	Cingular	Crisp helped Fandango launch movie ticket service for Cingular subs	The partnership follows a similar announcement between Fandango, Crisp and Sprint.
Vocel	Random House, HIT Entertainment	The firms bring 'Thomas the Tank Engine' to mobiles	Netflix aside, parents could equate the $3.99 price tag with that of a movie rental and rationalize it that way.
Openwave	Telus	Openwave's Musiwave powering Telus' new mobile music service	Each song download will cost C$2.49, which includes the data fee of C$0.50 and also includes two copies: one for the phone and one for the PC.
Baidu	Nokia	Baidu, Nokia to offer Chinese mobile search service	Baidu is a leading search engine in China, which is a difficult service to provide given the nature of the language. The mobile service is now in beta and free for download in mainland China.
MSN	3	MSN, 3 to provide mobile blogging service for subs of SeeMeTV	SeeMeTV is a mobile channel that shows and pays for customer-created content.

Rumor Mill: Amdocs to acquire Qpass

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 19:01:39 -0500

According to insiders, CRM specialist Amdocs is acquiring mobile content enabler Qpass for somewhere in the range of $260 million to $280 million. Amdocs would not comment on rumors and Qpass could not be reached before deadline. Supposedly Lucent also made a bid for Qpass but dropped out of the bidding at the $240 million mark. (Coincidentally, Lucent is also rumored to be acquired by Alcatel today.) Amdocs is a somewhat unexpected suitor to Qpass as its business is largely focused on customer relationship management. But who doesn't want to get into the mobile content business these days? If the rumor proves true, the deal will undoubtedly be compared to VeriSign's recent acquisition of m-Qube, which fetched $250 million. These acquisitions are further evidence of a robust market for MoCo.

QPass' mobile content services enable the buying and selling of digital goods across mobile, VoIP and WiFi networks. The company manages the entire digital commerce transaction process from content sourcing, merchandising and delivery to billing and customer care. QPass' customers include Cingular, T-Mobile International, Vodafone, Sprint, Alltel and Skype. The company says it has processed more than 400 million premium downloads since it launched, which adds up to $900 million in gross retail sales.

Further insider reports claim that Qpass recently acquired Simplewire, a wireless messaging infrastructure company specializing in SMS aggregation. Simplewire powered Verizon Wireless' premium MMS services and has partnered with Sprint for a premium billing system still in beta.

Stay tuned to FierceMoCo for more information on this developing story.

VeriSign to scoop up m-Qube for $250M

Sun, 19 Mar 2006 19:01:39 -0500

Seems there was some truth to my gossip column two weeks ago: VeriSign has agreed to acquire m-Qube for a cool $250 million "net of cash," or after cash already on hand at m-Qube. m-Qube is a MoCo enabler that helps brands develop and sell mobile content and messaging services. m-Qube claims to reach more than 200 million wireless subscribers in North America and has already powered mobile storefronts and marketing campaigns for customers including Sony Pictures, CBS, Major League Baseball, Warner Music Group and Reuters.

Last week, analysts railed on VeriSign's mobile unit, with one even calling it a "disaster." Insiders recently told me m-Qube was low on cash and that an acquisition was likely. The addition of m-Qube to VeriSign's mobile unit should perk things up for the company. VeriSign recently acquired wireless applications service provider 3united and Kontiki, which specializes in managed peer delivery systems for video and digital content.

For more on VeriSign's acquisition of m-Qube:
- see this press release

ALSO: Don't be confused by reports of Product Development Technologies buying "MQube Design" on Friday. Purely a coincidence of names--separate deal, different companies. Article